Clean up trash while you walk
I’m a walker and a former runner, but I’m not writing from a prejudicial nature. So let me give you a little background on a walker-and-runner exercise routine.
Back in the dark ages when we were living in Texas, I started by running around the block on sidewalks very early in the morning when it was still dark. I quit that after I ran into a big pile of trash and got a few cuts and bruises. So I hit the road, where I dodged cars instead of trash on the sidewalk.
I quickly learned a few key things about road jogging: Jog, run, or walk facing traffic. That way, you can see a car that is about to hit you and step off the pavement.
The No. 2 item is to either wear a light on your body or an orange reflective garment. I see folks running every day and night wearing black and running on the wrong side of the road when it is totally dark. They must have a death wish.
When we moved back to Arkansas, I was a sporadic runner and a budding tennis player. I was playing Dr. Myron Shoffner one afternoon, and he was beating the socks off me. I casually asked him about another player in town, Bill Noland, who was also regularly beating me.
“Bill is a runner, Richard. He’s in great shape for tennis because singles tennis is basically a running game.”
I started running the next day, and that helped my tennis game immensely. Running is not without risks, and pulled muscles will happen to even the fittest.
My running stopped a couple of years back when I was working in the yard and slipped, landing against a piece of concrete that severely bruised the calf of my left leg. The surface cut wasn’t that bad, so I didn’t need stitches. However, even though the cut seemed to be healing, the deeper bruise wasn’t. Finally, after several weeks when I still had an open wound, I went to the doctor.
Dr. Watson took one look and said, “Richard, I’m going to make you an appointment with the wound center.”
I didn’t know there was a wound center. So I headed there the next day, and after an examination, the doctor commented, “Richard, you have a deep bruise [Basically he said the wound had to heal from the inside out instead of the surface cut].”
That meant the wound had to be left open and rebandaged every week. It took several weeks to heal; now it’s good as new. Naturally, this brought an end to running and tennis for over a month. Finally, I started back by walking, and after a few weeks I added a few hundred yards of jogging. As I have gotten older the walking is now around 90 percent.
According to several studies, your goal should be to walk 10,000 steps a day. There are plenty of devices that will give you a count. I have converted the three miles of walking from my house on Calion Road in El Dorado to my downtown office. It figures about 7,000 steps. Since I work in our yard and adjacent small pond, I can easily add those 3,000 steps by trimming and picking up limbs.
The front yard of where we live is heavily forested, and walking to pick up fallen limbs and trimming bushes easily gives me the 10,000 steps in good weather. I’m a skinny guy and can’t stand to be cold, so winter weather sometimes gets me behind.
Studies have shown walking contributes to cardiovascular and pulmonary (heart and lung) fitness, reduced risk of heart disease and stroke, improved management of conditions such as hypertension, high cholesterol, joint and muscular pain and stiffness, and diabetes.
We need to realize these steps can be almost anything. I started looking at the front of our property along with the trashy roadways around town. Just think of how much we could improve the looks of Arkansas roads if we pick up trash while we walk.
Ten thousand steps is roughly equivalent to walking five miles or eight kilometers depending on your stride length, cadence, and height. If you are looking to get your 10,000 steps done all in one go, you’ll be walking for around an hour and 40 minutes.
Walking is a great benefit to good
health. Getting those 10,000 steps a day is certainly worth the time and effort. But to me, it’s not all health and wellness. I just feel better after a three-mile walk, and as I look at the front yard and around the pond where I have walked, trimmed, and picked up sticks, that’s the bonus.
I noted in last Sunday’s Voices Section of the paper a writer who had traveled through multiple states deems Arkansas has the trashiest roadways. I agree! Let’s do something about all that trash and get healthy doing it by walking 10,000 steps while picking up trash.